Glamour Reel Moments - Part III

Our adventure continued with a mouthwatering brunch at the Sofitel - complete with healthy omelets, french toast, fruit, sausages, muffins and much more. As I sat chatting away with my new friends, Amy at Mom Advice, Dawn at Because I Said So, Michelle at Scribbit and Liz with This Full House, Jean Lee, Suave's associate brand marketer introduced us to Bill Wackerman, the Publisher of Glamour who along with Leslie Russo, Glamour's Associate Publisher, came up with the concept for Glamour Reel Moments.

Now if you're wondering, what is Glamour Reel Moments, well it's pretty simple. Every year, Glamour asks its readers to submit real life stories to the magazine and after receiving several thousand entries, three are selected and are then transformed into short feature films that are directed by some of the most talented women in Hollywood.

The program started nearly 3 years ago in an effort to encourage more women to try their hand at directing. Only 7% currently direct films and so it is the goal of Glamour Reel Moments to celebrate their readers by sharing their voices through the eyes and lens of a woman. To date, Glamour Reel Moments is responsible for 14 directorial debuts.

This year's effort featured films directed by Demi Moore, Courtney Cox and Kirsten "Kiwi" Smith - a gifted comedy writer who penned "Legally Blonde," "House Bunny" and many others. Kiwi appeared at the brunch along with producer Francesca Silvestri and moderator Andrea Buchanan and shared how she first broke into the business - she actually wanted to be a poet but realized poetry doesn't pay the bills and so, she began writing screenplays. She also explained that when she heard about the Glamour Reel Moments opportunity, she instantly wanted to throw her hat into the ring and be considered as a director. Her good friends in Hollywood agreed and the next thing she knew, she was enlisting Anna Faris to star in a short comedy called "The Spleenectomy."

Also featured was producer Francesca Silvestri, whose production company, Freestyle Productions works with the female director to select the winning stories. The event was moderated by Andrea Buchanan, a Glamour Reel Moments directing alum who happens to be releasing a new book in the coming months featuring essays from women who share their most embarrassing, humiliating and inspiring moments ever - sounds like a must read! If you'd like to read the entire interview from the event, then check out Michelle's blog at Scribbit, she used her Flip to record the entire thing...(so clever!)

An important message that hit home for me from the talk was that despite the odds, one should never give up on what they believe in. Russo says when she first came up with the concept, she was told no one in Hollywood would be interested in taking on the project without being compensated for their efforts. With the support of A-list actresses and writers and of course, Glamour's partner on the project, Suave, Leslie proved them all wrong and together with Freestyle Productions, they are now paving the way for female directors.

Following the brunch, we were given several hours to explore or shop and while I initially thought I'd hit the Beverly Center, I decided instead to join Dawn, Michelle, Liz and Amy on an action-packed sight seeing adventure which took us to Grauman's Chinese Theater and the Walk of Fame, the Hollywood Sign and the Santa Monica beach and pier. Check out my video below and then stay tuned for my next post...The Premiere!